Acknowledgment
The author wishes to thank Dr. Denis MacEoin, most recently Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Newcastle
University, for his help with the Persian translations and transliteration. Dr. MacEoin holds a Ph.D. degree in
Persian/Islamic Studies from Cambridge University (Kingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s College).

Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs

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4

What Iranian Leaders Really Say about Doing Away with Israel

What Iranian Leaders Really Say
about Doing Away with Israel:

A Refutation of the Campaign to Excuse
Ahmadinejad’s Incitement to Genocide
Joshua Teitelbaum

• O
ver the past several years, Iranian leaders – most prominently, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
– have made numerous statements calling for the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people. While
certain experts have interpreted these statements to be simple expressions of dissatisfaction with the
current Israeli government and its policies, in reality, the intent behind Ahmadinejad’s language and that
of others is clear.
• W
hat emerges from a comprehensive analysis of what Ahmadinejad actually said – and how it has been
interpreted in Iran – is that the Iranian president was not just calling for “regime change” in Jerusalem,
but rather the actual physical destruction of the State of Israel. When Ahmadinejad punctuates his
speech with “Death to Israel” (marg bar Esraiil), this is no longer open to various interpretations.
• A
common motif of genocide incitement is the dehumanization of the target population. The Nazi weekly Der
Stürmer portrayed Jews as parasites and locusts. Ahmadinejad said in a speech on February 20, 2008: “In the
Middle East, they [the global powers] have created a black and filthy microbe called the Zionist regime.”
• S
upreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who succeeded Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989, has made
statements about Israel similar to Ahmadinejad. On December 15, 2000, he declared on Iranian TV:
“Iran’s position, which was first expressed by the Imam [Khomeini] and stated several times by those
responsible, is that the cancerous tumor called Israel must be uprooted from the region.”
• M
ichael Axworthy, who served as the Head of the Iran Section of Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth
Office, notes that when the slogan “Israel must be wiped off the map” appeared “draped over missiles in
military parades, that meaning was pretty clear.”
• T
here is an ample legal basis for the prosecution of Ahmadinejad in the International Court of Justice
and the International Criminal Court for direct and public incitement to commit genocide and crimes
against humanity.

Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs

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Over the past several years, Iranian leaders – most prominently, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
– have made numerous statements calling for the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people. Some of these
statements have been interpreted by certain journalists and experts on Iran to be simple expressions of
dissatisfaction with the Israeli presence in the West Bank or eastern Jerusalem, or with the current Israeli
government and its policies.
Juan Cole of the University of Michigan argues that Ahmadinejad was not calling for the destruction of
Israel, saying, “Ahmadinejad did not say he was going to wipe Israel off the map because no such idiom
exists in Persian.” The British Guardian’s Jonathan Steele argued that Ahmadinejad was simply remarking
that “this regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time.” Steele continues: “He was not
making a military threat. He was calling for an end to the occupation of Jerusalem at some point in the
future. The ‘page of time’ phrase suggests he did not expect it to happen soon.”1
Scholars continue to soft-pedal the Iranian President’s words. Professor Stephen Walt, who previously
served as academic dean of Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and co-authored The
Israel Lobby and US Foreign Policy along with Professor John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago,
told a Jerusalem audience during a joint appearance in early June 2008, “I don’t think he is inciting to
genocide,” when asked about Ahmadinejad’s call to wipe Israel off the map.2
In reality, the intent behind Ahmadinejad’s language is clear. Those who seek to excuse Iranian leaders
should not remain unchallenged when they use the tools of scholarship as a smokescreen to obfuscate these
extreme and deliberate calls for the destruction of Israel. Language entails meaning. These statements have
been interpreted by leading Iranian blogs and news outlets – some official – to mean the destruction of
Israel.

U.S. Congress Debate on Translating Ahmadinejad
Translating Ahmadinejad’s statements is not purely an academic matter. When in 2007 the U.S. House
of Representatives debated a resolution calling on the UN Security Council to charge Ahmadinejad with
violating the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and the United
Nations Charter because of his repeated calls for the destruction of Israel (H. Con. Res. 21), the issue of the
accuracy of the translation of his remarks came up in the House debate.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) requested that alternative translations of Ahmadinejad’s language – like
that of South African political scientist Virginia Tilley – be introduced into the Congressional Record.
These versions assert the Iranian president was only seeking a change of regime in Israel and not the
physical elimination of the country.3 H. Con. Res. 21 was adopted by a majority of 411 to 2, with Rep.
Kucinich and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) voting against.

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What Iranian Leaders Really Say about Doing Away with Israel

Examining Ahmadinejad’s Language
What emerges from a comprehensive analysis of what Ahmadinejad actually said – and how it has been
interpreted in Iran – is that the Iranian president was not just calling for “regime change” in Jerusalem, but
rather the actual physical destruction of the State of Israel. After all, it is hard to wipe a country off the map
without destroying its population as well.
The Iranian government itself reinforced this understanding with its own rendition of his slogans on posters
and billboards during official parades. Those who try to make Ahmadinejad’s statements excusable by
narrowing their meaning to a change of Israel’s ruling coalition are misleading their readers. The plain
meaning of what Ahmadinejad has declared constitutes a call for genocide – the destruction of the Jewish
state and its residents.
A contextual examination of these statements demonstrates beyond a doubt that when Iranian leaders use the
euphemism “Zionist regime” or “the Jerusalem-occupying regime,” they are most definitely referring to the State
of Israel and not to the present regime. Iranian leaders are simply following the time-worn practice in the Arab
world of referring to the “Zionist regime” in an attempt to avoid dignifying Israel by recognizing its name.
Iranian leaders are also not talking about a non-directed, natural historical process that will end with Israel’s
demise. Rather, they are actively advocating Israel’s destruction and have made it clear that they have the
will and the means to effect it.

Ahmadinejad’s “Wipe Israel Off the Map” Speech
In an address to the “World without Zionism” Conference held in Tehran on October 26, 2005, Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said:4

TRANSLATION
Our dear Imam [Khomeini]
ordered that this Jerusalemoccupying regime [Israel]
must be erased from the
page of time. This was a very
wise statement.

The New York Times translated the statement as Israel “must be wiped off the map,” a non-literal translation
which nevertheless conveyed the meaning of the original – the destruction of Israel.5 Despite the international
controversy that Ahmadinejad’s language generated, a report on his October 2005 speech was still available
on his presidential website as of May 2008.

Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs

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“Jerusalem-Occupying Regime” – Another Name for the
State of Israel
Soft-pedaling Ahmadinejad’s call for the destruction of Israel, Prof. Cole told the New York Times that
all Ahmadinejad had said was that “he hoped its regime, i.e., a Jewish-Zionist state occupying Jerusalem,
would collapse.”6
Official Iranian spokespersons and organs have since based their slogans on Ahmadinejad’s statement,
and have loosely translated the statement as “Israel should be wiped off the face of the world.” This is
evident in pictures showing banners and signs in parades and ceremonies. Even the Iranian newscaster that
introduced the report on the “World without Zionism” Conference used the word “Israel” (instead of the
“Jerusalem-occupying regime”) and also the word “world” (instead of the “page of time”), and thus referred
to Ahmadinejad’s statement as “erasing Israel, this disgraceful stain, from the world” (clip available from
the Jerusalem Center upon request).
While Iranian leaders are well aware that they are watched by the international media and occasionally soften the
wording of their statements accordingly, they are less careful in internal forums and events. When Ahmadinejad
punctuates his speech before a large crowd with “Death to Israel” (marg bar Esraiil), this is no longer open to
various interpretations.7 He is openly calling for the destruction of a country – and not a regime.

Dehumanization as Prelude to Genocide: Israel as an Infection
In the same speech of October 26, 2005,8 Ahmadinejad returned to the theme of Israel as dirty vermin
which needed to be eradicated:

TRANSLATION
Soon this stain of
disgrace will be cleaned
from the garment of
the world of Islam, and
this is attainable.

In order to remove any doubt in the mind of the Persian reader that Ahmadinejad is referring to Israel, the
Iranian president’s official site, www.president.ir, interpolates the word “Esraiil” (‫ )اسرائيل‬in its report on the
speech to explain the expression “stain of disgrace.”9

8

What Iranian Leaders Really Say about Doing Away with Israel

A common motif of genocide incitement is the dehumanization of the target population. The Nazi weekly
Der Stürmer portrayed Jews as parasites and locusts. In the early 1990s, Hutu propaganda in Rwanda against
the Tutsis described them as “cockroaches.”10 Prior to Saddam Hussein’s operations against the Iraqi Shiite
population in 1991, his Baath Party newspaper characterized them as “monkey-faced people.”11 Similarly,
President Ahmadinejad has called Israeli Jews “cattle,” “blood thirsty barbarians,” and “criminals.”12
Dehumanization has also appeared in other forms, like demonization, by which the target population is
described as “Satanic” – a theme specifically used by Ahmadinejad.13
The theme of the Israeli germ or microbe is also a common one with the Iranian president. In his speech
before a crowd in Bandar Abbas on February 20, 2008, Ahmadinejad said:14

TRANSLATION
In the Middle East, they [the
global powers] have created
a black and filthy microbe
called the Zionist regime, so
they could use it to attack
the peoples of the region,
and by using this excuse,
they want to advance their
schemes for the Middle East.

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Israel’s founding, the President of Iran stated that “global
arrogance established the Zionist regime 60 years ago.” The Islamic Republic News Agency reported:
“President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday labeled the Zionist regime as a ‘stinking corpse’ and
said those who think they can revive the corpse of this fabricated and usurper regime are mistaken.”15

Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs

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The Destruction of Israel is Achievable and Imminent –
Not a Long-Term Historical Process
According to President Ahmadinejad, ridding the world of the germ Israel is possible and imminent. On April
14, 2006, Ahmadinejad insisted that Israel was “heading towards annihilation.” He added that Israel was:16

The region and the world are
prepared for great changes
and for being cleansed of
Satanic enemies.

For Ahmadinejad, Iran’s support for the Palestinians will help them destroy the State of Israel. He told a press
conference on May 13, 2008: “This terrorist and criminal state is backed by foreign powers, but this regime
would soon be swept away by the Palestinians.”19 A day later, Ahmadinejad spoke in Gorgan, in northern Iran,
declaring, “Israel’s days are numbered,” adding that “the peoples of the region would not miss the narrowest
opportunity to annihilate this false regime.”20 In a public address shown on the Iranian news channel on June
2, 2008, Ahmadinejad again reiterated: “Thanks to God, your wish will soon be realized, and this germ of
corruption will be wiped off the face of the world.”21 Clearly, Ahmadinejad’s call for the imminent destruction
of Israel was not a one-time event in 2005, but rather publicly declared on multiple occasions.

10

What Iranian Leaders Really Say about Doing Away with Israel

Israelis as a “Falsified People”
Ahmadinejad was fully prepared to make his assertions about Jews and Israel in the Western press, as well.
In an interview that appeared in the French daily Le Monde on February 5, 2008, he said the Jews of Israel
are: “a people falsified, invented, [the people of Israel] will not last; they must leave the territory.”
From the interview it is clear he believes that Israelis will not endure and will not continue to stay on the
territory on which they are living. This is not a call for a change of government or new policies alone, but
rather for the removal of Israel’s Jewish population from the country, either by ethnic cleansing or physical
destruction.

How the Statements Are Understood in Iran
Blogs and Forums
While certain Western commentators on Iran seek to whitewash Ahmadinejad’s statements on Israel, proand anti-regime Iranians (and others in the region) have no doubt that the Iranian president is referring to the
destruction of Israel, according to Iranian blogs and forums. There are close to 180,000 Persian-language
blogs, and Iranians constitute 53 percent of Internet users in the Middle East.

Mr. Ahmadinejad, Isn’t that Enough?
“In every Internet site that I visit today (for example, BBC or Radio-Farda) or the satellite radio and television
news stations that I listen to, the first news item is the pearls of wisdom issued by Mr. Ahmadinejad regarding
the countdown to the destruction of Israel.”22

What Have We Done to Erase Israel?
“Didn’t Imam Khomeini decree that Israel should be erased from the scene of time? Well, I ask you – what
have we done in order to erase this Israel from the scene of time?”23

Ahmadinejad’s Statements and the Qur’an
An Iranian blogger asks: Why did Ahmadinejad talk about the destruction of Israel? Are his statements
supported by religious laws and decrees? The blogger then presents the research he did regarding the
religious writings in the Qur’an that can be seen to support Ahmadinejad’s statements.24

Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs

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First Fix Your Own Country – Then Destroy Israel
In the Ham-Mihan Forum, the question was raised about Ahmadinejad’s declaration that the countdown
towards Israel’s destruction had begun. Among the 71 responses:
“My opinion is that first you [Ahmadinejad] should fix up your own country, and then you can say that
Israel should be destroyed. The people in Iran don’t have bread and we are concerned with Palestine.”
“I wish that all of this energy that is devoted to the destruction of Israel would be directed towards the
destruction of drug addiction, poverty, corruption and prostitution.”25

Take the First Steps towards Obliterating Israel
Bloggers at Imam Sadegh University called for boycotting Israeli products, with the following message:
“Dear bloggers: If you would like to do so, you can take the first steps towards obliterating Israel from the
map of the world.”26
The Iranian blogs reflect a wide range of views regarding statements by Iranian leaders – primarily
Ahmadinejad – on the destruction of Israel. His statement at the “World without Zionism” Conference is
widely quoted in blogs – by those supporting the statement, those critical of the statement, and those who
support the statement but question the wisdom of the timing. One fact cannot be disputed – Ahmadinejad’s
statement that “the Jerusalem-occupying regime must be erased from the page of time” was interpreted by
Persian-language bloggers – without exception – as meaning the physical destruction of the State of Israel.

Resalat Daily Reflects on an Ahmadinejad Speech: “The Great War Is Ahead of Us”
Resalat, a conservative Iranian daily, published an editorial on October 22, 2006, entitled “Preparations for
the Great War,” in which it reflected on a speech given by Ahmadinejad two days earlier. It stated: “It must
not be forgotten that the great war is ahead of us, perhaps tomorrow, or in a few months, or even a few years.
The nation of Muslims must prepare for the great war, so as to completely wipe out the Zionist regime, and
remove this cancerous growth (emphasis added).27

12

What Iranian Leaders Really Say about Doing Away with Israel

Calls for the Destruction of Israel Are Echoed Throughout
Iran at Military Parades, Billboards, and Demonstrations
Even before Ahmadinejad himself spoke about
wiping Israel off the map, the Iranian regime
used such expressions but did not leave any
doubt about what stood behind this phraseology.
By juxtaposing its call for Israel’s elimination
with a Shahab 3 missile during a military parade,
the Iranian regime itself has clarified that these
expressions about Israel’s future do not describe a
long-term historical process, in which the Israeli
state collapses by itself like the former Soviet
Union, but rather the actual physical destruction
of Israel as a result of a military strike. The
Shahab 3 missile has a range of 1,300 kilometers
and can reach Israel from launch points in Iranian
territory. Once Iran has completed the production
of sufficient quantities of highly enriched
uranium – or weapons-grade plutonium – there
is no reason why Iran cannot deploy a future
Iranian nuclear weapon on a Shahab 3 missile in
order to carry out Ahmadinejad’s threat to wipe
Israel off the map.

“Israel must be uprooted and wiped off [the pages
of] history” - the inscription on a Shahab 3 missile
in a military parade in Tehran, September 22, 2003

This banner appears on the building which houses
the Center for the Basij Resistance in the Judicial
Branch, which is part of the Basij Resistance
in Government Ministries and Departments. 28
The Basij are “mobilization forces” used as
reserves for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corps (IRGC) or Pasdaran, which was created
to defend the Iranian revolutionary regime in
1979. The English translation on the banner
reflects how an official organ of the Iranian
government understood Ahmadinejad’s words.
It is noteworthy that variations on the expression
“wipe out of the face of the world” have been
used before in a specifically military context.
In a Friday sermon, former Iranian President
Rafsanjani made the statement: “If one day, a
very important day of course, the Islamic world will also be equipped with the weapons available to Israel
now, the imperialist strategy will reach an impasse, because the employment of even one atomic bomb
inside Israel will wipe it off the face of the earth, but would only do damage to the Islamic world (emphasis
added).”29

Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs

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The banner appears as well on a bus at a military
rally in Iran in November 2006. The banner reads
in English, “Israel should be wiped out of the face
of the world.”30

In English: “Down with Israel”
In Persian: “Death to Israel”
While the captions of the posters in English read
“Down with Esrail [Israel]” and “Down with USA,” the
captions in Arabic read “Death to Israel” and “Death to
America.”

14

What Iranian Leaders Really Say about Doing Away with Israel

The Statements of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
In the Iranian system, the highest ranking political
authority is the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
who succeeded Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1989.
Khamenei has made statements about Israel similar to
Ahmadinejad. In a Friday sermon on December 15, 2000
(shown on Iranian TV), he declared: “Iran’s position,
which was first expressed by the Imam [Khomeini] and
stated several times by those responsible, is that the
cancerous tumor called Israel must be uprooted from
the region.”31
A month later on January 15, 2001, at a meeting with
organizers of the International Conference for Support
of the Intifada, he stated: “The foundation of the
Islamic regime is opposition to Israel and the perpetual
subject of Iran is the elimination of Israel from the
region.”32 Iranian journalist Kasra Naji translated this
sentence from the original Farsi as follows: “It is the
mission of the Islamic Republic of Iran to erase Israel
from the map of the region.”33 The difference between
international reaction to Khamenei’s statements on Israel and those of Ahmadinejad in 2005 comes from
the fact that Ahmadinejad’s declarations were made after the disclosure of Iran’s clandestine nuclear
weapons program in 2002-3, and the breakdown of EU-Iranian talks on halting the Iranian uranium
enrichment program. By 2005, Khamenei began a concerted effort to limit the damage done to Iran
by Ahmadinejad’s rhetoric, by insisting that Iran did not seek the military destruction of Israel.34 Yet
Hossein Shariatmadari, a close confidant of Khamenei who serves as one of his major mouthpieces,
wrote an editorial in the Iranian daily Kayhan on October 30, 2005, in which he argued, “We declare
explicitly that we will not be satisfied with anything less than the complete obliteration of the Zionist
regime from the political map of the world.”35 It may be that Khamenei has toned down his own rhetoric,
but nonetheless has allowed his handpicked editor-in-chief of Kayhan to maintain his original ideological
position on destroying Israel to the Iranian public.
In a speech on October 4, 2007, Shariatmadari stated: “‘Death to America’ and ‘Death to Israel’ are not
only words written on paper but rather a symbolic approach that reflects the desire of all the Muslim
nations.”36

Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs

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Following Ahmadinejad’s Lead – Other Prominent Figures
Call for the Destruction of Israel
Ayatollah Janati:
The People Wish the Death of America and Israel
Ayatollah Ahmad Janati, 82, is a member of President Ahmadinejad’s inner
circle, and is Chairman of the Guardian Council of the Constitution. According
to the Fars News Agency, he told reporters during the 22 of Bahman parade
(marking the anniversary of the Islamic revolution) that every year there is
a bigger crowd, the slogans are more enthusiastic, and the Islamic regime’s
situation is getting better and better. He added: “The blind enemies should
see that the wish of these people is the death of America and Israel.”37

General Safavi:
Death for the Zionist Regime
Yahya Rahim Safavi, 55, one of the “hard-core” founders of the Islamic
Revolutionary Guards Corps and its former commander, is now senior advisor
to Supreme Leader Khamenei. In a speech in February 2008, he said: “With
God’s help the time has come for the Zionist regime’s death sentence.”38
Safavi is also fond of referring to Israel as impure, unhygienic and contaminated.
In remarks at a memorial ceremony for assassinated terrorist Imad Mughniyeh
held in the city of Hamadan on February 23, 2008, he stated that the “death of this unclean regime (‫مرگ این‬
‫[ )رژیم ناپاک‬Israel] will arrive soon following the revolt of Muslims.”39

Mohammad-Ali Ramin:
The Jews Are Very Filthy People
Mohammad-Ali Ramin refers to himself, as does the press, as an adviser
to Ahmadinejad. He is a well-known Holocaust denier and is believed to
be behind the president’s statements on this issue. He is secretary of the
political committee of the Rayeheh Khosh-Khedmat party which supports
the president. On June 9, 2006, according to the reformist Internet daily
Rooz, Ramin told a group of students in Rasht: “Among the Jews there have
always been those who killed God’s prophets and who opposed justice and
righteousness. Historically, there are many accusations against the Jews. For
example, it was said that they were the source for such deadly diseases as the
plague and typhus. This is because the Jews are very filthy people. For a time
people also said that they poisoned water wells belonging to Christians and thus killed them.”40 Ramin does
not even bother to cover up his anti-Semitism by using “Zionists” instead of “Jews.”

16

What Iranian Leaders Really Say about Doing Away with Israel

Ayatollah Nuri Hamadani:
Fight the Jews and Vanquish Them
Ayatollah Hussein Nuri Hamadani (b. 1925), a leading religious authority
associated with the regime, told a meeting with the Mahdaviyat (messianic)
Studies Institute in April 2005: “One should fight the Jews and vanquish
them so that the conditions for the advent of the Hidden Imam will be met.”
He has also stated that “at present the Jews’ policies threaten us. One should
explain in the clearest terms the danger the Jews pose to the [Iranian] people
and to the Muslims....Already from the beginning the Jews wanted to hoard
the world’s goods in [their] greed and voracity. They always worked in important professions and now
they have hoarded all of the wealth in one place. And all of the world, especially America and Europe,
are their slaves.”41

General Mohammad-Ali Jafari:
“Cancerous Microbe Israel”
In a February 2008 message to Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary General of
Hizbullah, the Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, General
Mohammad-Ali Jafari, wrote: “In the near future, we will witness the destruction
of the cancerous microbe Israel (‫ ) جرثومه سرطاني اسرائيل‬by the strong and capable
hands of the nation of Hizbullah.”42

Foreign Minister Mottaki:
Israel Has No Legitimacy
In a speech reported by the Iranian Students News Agency on February
18, 2008, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said, “The
West has tried to impose a fabricated regime on the Middle East, but
even after sixty years, the Zionist regime (Israel) has neither gained
any legitimacy nor played any role in this region.”43

Majles Speaker Adel:
Destruction of the Zionist Regime
The speaker of Iran’s parliament, Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel, in a
February 2008 speech at Tehran University’s mosque, said: “The
countdown has begun for the destruction of the Zionist regime.”44

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Hizbullah Statements
The positions of Hizbullah are also an indicator of Iranian intentions towards Israel. Hizbullah was founded
in 1982 with the deployment of Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards in Lebanon’s Biqa’ Valley and the
training of its first Shiite cadre. Hizbullah’s first governing council was established by the Iranian ambassador
to Damascus, Ali Akbar Mohtashemi.45 In its founding political platform, Hizbullah makes it clear that it
takes its orders from Tehran: “We abide by the orders of one single wise and just leadership, represented by
“Wali al-Faqih” and personified by Khomeini.”46
In this context, it is important to take note of the statements of Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary-General of
Hizbullah. In 2002, he disclosed his own organization’s genocidal intent when he declared:
“Islamic prophecies and not only Jewish prophecies declare that this state [Israel] will come into being, and
all the Jews of the world will gather from all corners of the world in occupied Palestine. But this will not be
so their false messiah [al-Dajjal] can rule in the world, but so that God can save you the trouble of running
them down all over the world. And then the battle will be decisive and crushing.”47
This theme also arose during the 2006 Second Lebanon War when Nasrallah called on the Arab residents
of Haifa to leave the city, so that no Arab blood would be spilled during Hizbullah’s rocket attacks on Haifa,
but only Jewish blood.48 It should come as no surprise that Nasrallah has echoed Ahmadinejad’s repeated
theme of Israel’s termination as well.49 Hizbullah takes its lead from Iran.

Incitement to Genocide
Ahmadinejad’s statements have also been reviewed by experts on the Middle East and the Persian language.
Michael Axworthy served as the Head of the Iran Section of Britain’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office in
1998-2000 and then subsequently as a lecturer at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies at the University
of Exeter. He clearly rejects the notion that Ahmadinejad has been mistranslated and misinterpreted: “The
formula had been used before by Khomeini and others, and had been translated by representatives of the
Iranian regime as ‘wiped off the map.’ Some of the dispute that has arisen over what exactly Ahmadinejad
meant by it has been rather bogus. When the slogan appeared draped over missiles in military parades, that
meaning was pretty clear.”50
Viewed in context, the statements of Iran’s leaders and, in particular, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
constitute incitement to genocide of the people of Israel. They are alarmingly similar to the coded statements
of incitement that preceded the Rwandan genocide of the Tutsis in 1994,51 and should therefore alarm all
peace-loving peoples.
There is an ample legal basis for the prosecution of Ahmadinejad in the International Court of Justice and
the International Criminal Court for direct and public incitement to commit genocide and crimes against
humanity.52

18

What Iranian Leaders Really Say about Doing Away with Israel

APPENDIX

The European Union Condemns Adel, Mottaki and Jafari
Declaration by the Presidency on Behalf of the EU on Recent Anti-Israeli Statements
February 25, 2008
The EU condemns in the strongest terms the statements made by the Iranian President Ahmadinejad, the
Speaker of the Iranian Majlis Haddad Adel, the Iranian Foreign Minister Mottaki, and the Commander of
the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Jafari. Their comments pointed against Israel are unacceptable, damaging
and uncivilized. The EU calls on Iran to stop hostile rhetoric and refrain from all threats towards other
states, members of the international community.53

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19

Notes
1. See Ethan Bronner, “Just How Far Did They Go, Those Words Against Israel?,” New York Times, June 10, 2006. See
also Arash Norouzi, “‘Wiped off the Map’ – The Rumor of the Century,” www.mohammadmossadegh.com/news/rumorof-the-century. Jonathan Steele, “Lost in Translation,” The Guardian, June 14, 2006; Virginia Tilley, “Putting Words in
Ahmadinejad’s Mouth,” Counterpunch, August 28, 2006.
2. ‘Israel Lobby’ Authors in Jerusalem: Ahmadinejad Not Inciting to Genocide,” AP, Ha’aretz (English edition), June 13,
2008.
3. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/record.xpd?id=110-h20070618-25&person=400346.
4. T
o link directly to a report on the speech, see Iranian Students News Agency, October 26, 2005, http://www.isna.ir/Main/
NewsView.aspx?ID=News-603209. To view a similar report on Ahmadinejad’s website (http://www.president.ir/fa), it
is necessary to enter the archive of presidential speeches according to the Persian date, 4 Aban (8th month), 1384. Of the
five items listed for that day, the “World without Zionism” speech is first.
5. T
he New York Times non-literal translation of Ahmadinejad’s call to destroy Israel, as “the occupying regime must be
wiped off the map,” was picked up by many world leaders opposed to the current regime. See Nazila Fathi’s translation,
New York Times, October 30, 2005. Fathi works at the Times’ Tehran bureau. She translated Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
Shirin Ebadi’s book, The History and Documentation of Human Rights in Iran, from Persian into English. As this
analysis went to press, President Ahmadinejad made a similar statement in a speech honoring Ayatollah Khomeini on
June 2, 2008. See the clip and translation as monitored by MEMRI TV at http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1784.htm,
and the wire stories by IRNA, AFP, AP, Reuters, June 2, 2008.
6. Ethan Bronner, “Just How Far Did They Go.” But as Bronner notes: “All official translations of Mr. Ahmadinejad’s
statement, including a description of it on his Web site (www.president.ir/eng/), refer to wiping Israel away. Further
confusing matters was that Ahmadinejad managed to misquote Khomeini, who had used the noun sahneh (arena/field/
stage in Persian), and not safheh (page in Persian).” See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmoud_Ahmadinejad_
and_Israel.
7. Excerpt from speech by Ahmadinejad, aired on Iranian News Channel (IRINN) on August 2, 2006, monitored by
MEMRI TV, http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1222.htm. Transcript at http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/1222.
htm.
8. Iranian Students News Agency, October 26, 2005, http://www.isna.ir/Main/NewsView.aspx?ID=News-603209.
9. http://www.president.ir/fa/, archive of President’s speeches, 4 Aban (8th month) 1384. Iranian TV did the same, as can
be seen in a clip which reports on the speech (clip available upon request from JCPA).
10. Gregory S. Gordon, “From Incitement to Indictment? Prosecuting Iran’s President for Advocating Israel’s Destruction
and Piecing Together Incitement Law’s Emerging Analytical Framework,” forthcoming in Journal of Criminal Law &
Criminology, Vol. 98 (2008), draft online at http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=gre
gory_gordon.
11. Document 103, “Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Iraq Prepared by the Special Rapporteur of the Commission
on Human Rights,” February 18, 1992, in Department of Public Information, The United Nations and the Iraq-Kuwait
Conflict, 1990-1996 (New York: United Nations, 1996), pp. 407-408.
12. Gordon, op. cit.
13. For example, on March 1, 2007, the official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Ahmadinejad stating, “Zionists are
the true manifestation of Satan.” http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-20/0703015352005938.htm.
14. President’s official site, http://www.president.ir/fa/?ArtID=8444; a clip is at http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1694.
htm., and a slightly different translation is at http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/1694.htm.
15. Islamic Republic NewsAgency (in English), May 8, 2008, http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-16/0805083448175250.
htm.
16. President’s official site, http://www.president.ir/fa/print.php?ArtID=1544; see also report at http://www.cbsnews.com/
stories/2006/04/14/world/main1499824.shtml, and Anoushiravan Ehteshami and Mahjoob Zweiri, Iran and the Rise of
the Neoconservatives (London: I. B. Tauris, 2007), p. 14.
17. President’s official site, http://www.president.ir/fa/?ArtID=10.
18. Fars News Agency, http://www.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=8701290026; AFP, April 17, 2008.
19. DPA, May 13, 2008.
20. MEMRI Inquiry and Analysis Series, No. 447, June 6, 2008, http://www.memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=IA44708#_
edn8.
21. MEMRI TV, June 2, 2008, http://www.memritv.org/clip_transcript/en/1784.htm.
22. http://soroosh-p.blogfa.com/post-66.aspx, June 3, 2007. This blog is critical of the regime.

20

What Iranian Leaders Really Say about Doing Away with Israel

23. http://yahood.mihanblog.com/, two weeks after the outbreak of the Israeli-Hizbullah war in July 2006. This is an antiIsrael blog.
24. http://naan.o.panir.googlepages.com/Naan-Site-Form-Ahmadi.htm. This blog concentrates on human rights in Iran and
the country’s pre-Islamic past.
25. http://forum.hammihan.com/showthread.php?t=6830&page=7. This is an Iranian forum that covers a wide range of
subjects.
26. http://isu.blogfa.com/post-6.aspx.
27. MEMRI Special Dispatch Series, No. 1357, November 15, 2006, http://www.memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=countr
ies&Area=iran&ID=SP135706.
28. http://sheikyermami.com/2007/09/page/3/.
29. “Iran Calls for the Destruction of Israel,” Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, Center for Special Studies,
Special Information Bulletin, November 2003, citing Khabar TV, December 14, 2000. http://www.terrorism-info.org.
il/malam_multimedia//ENGLISH/IRAN/PDF/NOV_03.PDF.
30. AP.
31. “Iran Calls for the Destruction of Israel.” See also “Iran Leader Urges Destruction of ‘Cancerous’ Israel,” CNN,
December 15, 2000, http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/meast/12/15/mideast.iran.reut/. A similar quotation in
Persian is at http://www.kheimeh.org/kheimeh/index.php?po=fulltext&op=1&pg=1&id=455.
32. “Iran Calls for the Destruction of Israel.”
33. Kasra Naji, Ahmadinejad: The Secret History of Iran’s Radical Leader (Los Angeles: University of California Press,
2008), p. 144.
34. Karim Sadjadpour, Reading Khamenei: The World View of Iran’s Most Powerful Leader (Washington: Carnegie
Endowment, 2008), p. 20, available at http://www.carnegieendowment.org/files/sadjadpour_iran_final2.pdf.
35.“Wiping Israel Off the Map Is Iran’s Official Policy,” Iran Focus, October 30, 2005, http://www.iranfocus.com/en/
special-wire/wiping-israel-off-world-map-is-iran-s-official-policy-key-official.html.
36. http://www.aftab.ir/news/2007/oct/04/c1c1191492912_politics_iran_hossein_shariyat_madari.php, October 4, 2007.
37. http://www.aftab.ir/news/2008/feb/12/c1c1202811597_politics_iran_jannati.php, February 12, 2008.
38. http://www1.irna.com/fa/news/view/line-5/8612021449121206.htm, http://www.taghribnews.com/tmain_fa.aspx?lng
=fa&mode=art&artid=20992.
39. http://sepahnews.com/nEWS/uNew.aspx?id=8584&pid=0.
40. http://www.memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=countries&Area=iran&ID=SP118606.
41. http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sd&ID=SP89705;
http://web.peykeiran.com/net_iran/irnewsbody.aspx?ID=23105; http://www.asylum-norway.com/modules.php?name=
News&file=article&sid=182.
42. http://sepahnews.com/nEWS/uNew.aspx?id=8482&pid=0, February 18, 2008.
43. I SNA, February 18, 2008, cited in http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/objects/pages/PrintArticleEn.jhtml?item No=955417.
44. http://www.bornanews.ir/NSite/FullStory/?Id=121547.
45. Martin Kramer, “Hizbullah in Lebanon,” The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World (New York: Oxford
University Press, Vol. 2, 1995), pp. 130-133.
46. Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, Center for Special Studies, Hezbollah (Part 1) (Tel Aviv: Intelligence
and Terrorism Information Center, June 2003), p. 53. Wali al-Faqih is the “Rule of the Jurisconsult.” Nasrallah referred
again to Hizbullah as the party of the Rule of the Jurisconsult in a May 26, 2008, speech. For the clip, see MEMRI TV,
http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1779.htm.
47. For a recording of the speech in Arabic, go to http://audio.hizbollah.tv/details.php?cid=1&linkid=189. The Beirut
Daily Star reported on the speech and quoted Nasrallah: “If they (Jews) all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble
of going after them worldwide.” “Nasrallah Alleges ‘Christian Zionist’ Plot,” Daily Star (Beirut), October 23, 2002,
citing Nasrallah speech in the village of Haret Hreik on October 22. The interpolation “Jews” is in the original Daily
Star text.
48. Times (London), August 12, 2006.
49. For how Hizbullah Secretary-General Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah views this and other statements, see Michael Young,
“The Islamists Really Are True Believers,” Daily Star (Beirut), March 27, 2008, www.middleeasttransparent.com/
article.php3?id_article=3604. Young is the opinion editor of the Beirut daily.
50. Michael Axworthy, A History of Iran: Empire of the Mind (New York: Basic Books, 2008), p. 313.
51. Gordon, op. cit.
52. Ibid.
53. http://www.eu2008.si/en/News_and_Documents/CFSP_Statements/February/0225MZZ_Iran_Izrael.html.

Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs

21

Dr. Joshua Teitelbaum, Visiting Senior Fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, is Senior Research
Fellow, Dayan Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Tel Aviv University, and Rosenbloom Israeli Visiting
Associate Professor, Department of Political Science and the Center on Democracy, Development, and
the Rule of Law, and W. Glenn Campbell and Rita Ricardo-Campbell National Fellow at the Hoover
Institution, both at Stanford University. He has authored and edited several books on the modern Middle
East. His latest is Political Liberalization in the Persian Gulf, forthcoming from Columbia University Press.